New
clues suggest slaves were vital to the Viking way of life—and argue
against attempts to soften the raiders’ brutish reputation.
A bare-chested Viking offers a slave girl to a Persian merchant in an artist’s rendering of a scene from Bulgar, a trading town on the Volga River.
The ancient reputation of Vikings as
bloodthirsty raiders on cold northern seas has undergone a radical
change in recent decades. A kinder, gentler, and more fashionable Viking
emerged. (See “Did Vikings Get a Bum Rap?”)
But our view of the Norse may be about to alter course again as
scholars turn their gaze to a segment of Viking society that has long
remained in the shadows.
Archaeologists are using recent finds and analyses of previous
discoveries—from iron collars in Ireland to possible plantation houses
in Sweden—to illuminate the role of slavery in creating and maintaining
the Viking way of life.
“This was a slave economy,” said Neil Price,
an archaeologist at Sweden’s Uppsala University who spoke at a recent
meeting that brought together archaeologists who study slavery and
colonization. “Slavery has received hardly any attention in the past 30
years, but now we have opportunities using archaeological tools to
change this.”
Small houses
surround a great hall at a Viking site in Sweden called Sanda. Some
archaeologists believe this may have been a Viking plantation with
slaves as the labor force.
Scandinavian slavery still echoes in the English language today. The
expression “to be held in thrall,” meaning to be under someone’s power,
traces back to the Old Norse term for a slave: thrall.
Slavery in the region long predates the Vikings. There is evidence of
vast economic disparity as early as the first century A.D., with some
people living with animals in barns while others live nearby in large,
prosperous homes. In 2009, archaeologist Frands Herschend at Uppsala
detailed a burnt structure from this early era in which people and
animals were immolated. The human bodies were left in the ruins rather
than retrieved for burial.
Ancient chronicles long mentioned that people, as well as precious
objects, were a target of the Viking raids that began in 793 A.D. at the
Scottish monastery of Lindisfarne. The Annals of Ulster
record “a great booty of women” taken in a raid near Dublin in 821
A.D., while the same account contends that 3,000 people were captured in
a single attack a century later.
Ibn Hawqal, an Arab geographer, described a Viking slave trade in 977
A.D. that extended across the Mediterranean from Spain to Egypt. Others
recorded that slaves from northern Europe were funneled from
Scandinavia through Russia to Byzantium and Baghdad.
Shortage of Women and Workers
Price suspects that “slavery was a very significant motivator in raiding.” One key factor may have been a dire need for women.
Some scholars believe that the Vikings were a polygamous society that
made it hard for non-elites to find brides. That may have driven the
raids and ambitious exploration voyages for which Vikings are best
known. Some genetic studies, for example, suggest that a majority of
Icelandic women are related to Scottish and Irish ancestors who likely
were raid booty.
As Viking fleets expanded, so did the need for wool to produce the
sails necessary to power the ships. This also may have driven the need
for slaves. “There was a significant shift in agriculture,” said Price.
The pressing need for wool production likely led to a plantation-like
economy, a topic now being studied by researchers.
Slavery was a very significant motivator in raiding.
For example, at a Swedish site called Sanda, researchers in the 1990s
found a great hall surrounded by small houses. Some Swedish
archaeologists now believe this could have been a Viking plantation with
slaves as the labor force.
“What you likely have is a slave-driven production of textiles,” said
Price. “We can’t really know who is making the cloth, but the
implications are clear.”
William Fitzhugh, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution,
added that “female slaves were concubines, cooks, and domestic workers.”
Male thralls likely were involved in cutting trees, building ships, and
rowing those vessels for their Viking masters.
Human Sacrifices
Other studies suggest that Viking slaves were sometimes sacrificed
when their masters died, and they ate more poorly during their lives.
Elise Naumann,
an archaeologist at the University of Oslo, recently discovered that
decapitated bodies found in several Viking tombs likely were not related
to the other remains. This lack of kinship, combined with signs of
mistreatment, make it likely that they were slaves sacrificed at the
death of their masters, a practice mentioned in Viking sagas and Arab
chronicles.
The bones also revealed a diet based heavily on fish, while their masters dined more heartily on meat and dairy products.
The harsh treatment accorded slaves is amply recorded both in the archaeological and historical record.
The harsh treatment accorded slaves is amply recorded both in the
archaeological and historical record. On the Isle of Man in the Irish
Sea, a wealthy male Viking’s tomb includes the remains of a young female
killed by a ferocious blow to the top of her head and mixed in with the
ashes of cremated animals. Other such examples can be found across
northern Europe.
Life for thralls was clearly harsh. A 14th-century poem—the original
likely dates from the end of the Viking era—gives an idea of how Vikings
saw their slaves. Among their names were Bastard, Sluggard, Stumpy,
Stinker, and Lout.
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, an Arab lawyer and diplomat from Baghdad who
encountered the men of Scandinavia in his travels, wrote that Vikings
treated their female chattel as sex slaves. If a slave died, he added,
“they leave him there as food for the dogs and the birds.”
But one recent discovery challenges ideas about the status of slaves.
In recent years, researchers have identified nearly 80 Viking skeletons
that feature deep grooves across their upper front teeth. Some
speculate that these may have been a mark of a warrior class, since the
skeletons were all male.
Anna Kjellstrom
at Stockholm University, noted that the remains of two men in central
Sweden that appear to be buried as slaves include the teeth grooves.
“This is not the same as saying that modified teeth is a feature only
found in slaves,” Kjellstrom added. But it is forcing scholars to
rethink the idea that it was solely for warriors, as well as the place
of slaves in Viking society.
Nevertheless, as scholars focus on the Norse need for human chattel,
the kinder and gentler aura surrounding Vikings today may begin to
diminish.
Follow Andrew Lawler at www.andrewlawler.com.
Source: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
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